HMCo #95p [Gig for U.S.S. Albatross]

"The Herreshoff Company are now employing 100 men in all departments, and during the approaching season expect to greatly increase this force. The yearly vacation will commence in a few days, and when work is resumed on August 30, it will be pushed on orders for several launches for the Fish Commission [#94p Launch for U.S.S. Albatross and #95p Gig for U.S.S. Albatross] and a sidewheel pleasure yacht for river use [#98p Augusta I]. ..." (Source: Anon. "Steam Yacht Building In Rhode Island. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company And Its Operations." The Mechanical Engineer, September 2, 1882, p. 55.)

"The US Steamer Fish Hawk, Captain Tanner of the United States Fish Commission, arrived here on the night of the 12th inst., and subsequently took on board the steam launches [#94p Launch for U.S.S. Albatross and #95p Gig for U.S.S. Albatross] built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co, for the Commission, and sailed for Wilmington. Del. on Tuesday last [October 17, 1882]." (Source: Anon. "Local Notes." Bristol Phoenix, October 21, 1882, p. 2.)

"The Albatross has five boats, as follows:
...
STEAM GIG.
Built also by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Twenty-five feet in length, 5 feet 2 inches beam, 3 feet 3 1/2 inches depth. A single coil boiler, compound engine, 4 1/4 inches and 2 1/2 inches diameter of cylinders, and 5-inch stroke, developing 7 1/2 horse-power with 100 pounds of steam.
It has the general form of a whale-boat, is double planked, spruce inside running diagonally, and mahogany outside running lore and aft. Both layers are bound together by brass screws at short intervals, making the structure unusually strong and light. There are watertight compartments at bow and stern of sufficient capacity to float boat and crew in case it is filled with water. The total weight is 2,650 pounds.
The bunkers hold 450 pounds of coal, and the fresh-water tank under the boiler carries 15 gallons, enough for two days' steaming. The ordinary speed of the boat is about 7 knots, although it can be driven to 8 for a short time. Seven persons can be seated comfortably in the stern sheets.
The location of the propeller under the bottom, about half the length from the stern, is a peculiar feature of this boat. It is so arranged that by a universal joint in the shaft the propeller can be hoisted and lowered, and when in the former position it does not project below the keel. When in use it is lowered, and no matter how heavy the sea, it is always submerged; thus racing is entirely avoided. The advantages of this system are not particularly apparent in smooth water, but her performance in a sea-way is remarkable. The gig is provided with a sliding gunter mast and sail, and makes good time under sail alone.
Steam can be raised in both cutter and gig in from three to five minutes. [P. 12]
...
STEAM CUTTERS.
The Albatross is provided with two steam cutters, built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, of Bristol, R. I., from their own designs. The boats have wooden hulls, the larger one being coppered; both are fastened with screws, and are built as light as is consistent with strength. They have compound engines, Herreshoffs patent coil boilers, and external surface condensers. That which distinguishes Herreshoffs system is the coil boiler fed at the top, emptying its steam and water into a separator (whence steam is fed to the engine), and a "circulating pump" which takes the excess of feed-water from the bottom of the separator and delivers it again to the top of the coil. The larger boat has its shaft parallel with the base line and has a 4-bladed screw; the smaller boat has its shaft inclined, passing through the bottom of the hull, a little to one side, and about amidships, and has a 2-bladed screw; just outside the hull there is a universal joint in the line shaft, which permits the screw being pulled close up under the bottom of the hull, with its two blades lying horizontally, in a recess left, in the keel, and when thus placed the lower edge of the keel is below the edges of the screw. The object of this is to protect the screw when passing over shoals. The screw being placed under the bottom of the hull, works always in solid water, and no matter how rough the sea, the propeller is never thrown out of water, and does not 'race.' Fig. 16 is a cut of the double-coil boiler of the steam cutter. The feed water enters the bottom of the outer coil, passing upward and through the spiral coil, then into and down the inner coil, and finally up, through an external pipe F, and into the separator D. The gases of combustion pass through the spaces between the coils. The furnace is lined with firebricks to a height of about 6 inches, and the coils are supported by wrought iron straps, with stirrup bolts, resting on the fire-bricks; the casing of the boiler is of sheet iron. The lightness of the boiler, the very small amount of water it contains, its great strength, and large heating surface give it great advantages over other boilers, and its results have been admirable. The boiler of the smaller boat is similar to the one in Fig. 16, except it has not the outer coil. [P. 42]
...
The principal dimensions of the boats and machinery are as follow:
Small boat.
Length from forward edge of stem to after edge of stern; feet; 25.083
Length at the load water-line; do; 24.583
Greatest beam; do; 5
Beam at the load water-line; do; 4.833
Depth from top edge of gunwale to lower edge of rabbet of keel:
Forward; do; 3.500
Amidships; do; 2.667
Aft; do; 3.667
Draught of water, exclusive of keel:
Forward; do; 1.417
Amidships; do; 1.417
Aft; do; 1.417
Depth of keel:
Forward; do; .208
Amidships; do; .458
Aft; do; .375
Area of greatest immersed transverse section; square feet; 6.216
Area of load water-line; do; 86.67
Aggregate area of the wetter surface; do; 99.76
Displacement at the load water-line; cubic feet; 40.86
Weight of hull and fittings; pounds; 1,700
Weight of boiler; do; 527
Weight of coal and water; do; 690
Weight of engine, including screw; do; 182
Weight of the boat complete; do; 3,099
Number of boilders; ; 1
Diameter of casing of boiler; inches; 26
Diameter of furnace; inches; 22
Area of grate surface; square feet; 2.64
Diameter of smoke-pipe; inches; 8
Height of smoke-pipe above grate bars; feet; 6.75
Diameter of separator; do; 3
Steam cylinders; number; 2
Diameter of high-pressure cylinder; inches; 2 1/2
Diameter of low-pressure cylinder; do; 4 1/4
Stroke of pistons; do; 5
Diameter of the piston rods; do; 7/16
Diameter of the air pump (single-acting); do; 2 1/4 [?]
Stroke of airpump; do; 2 1/8
Diameter of circulating pump-plunger; do; [?]
Diameter of feed pump-plunger; do; [?]
Stroke of pumps; do; 5
Length of condensing pipes; feet; 13 1/15 [?]
Condensing surface; square feet; 4.95
Main journals; number; 3
Diameter of main journals; inches; 1 1/2 [?] and 2 1/4
Length of main journals; do; 2 1/2
Crank pin journals; number; 2
Diameter of crank-pin journals:
High pressure; inches; 1 1/2 [?]
Low pressure; do; [?]
Length of crank-pin journals:
High pressure; do; 1
Low pressure; do; 1 1/4
Space occupied by the engine:
Length fore and aft; do; 21
Width; do; 18
Height; do; 26
Diameter of the screw propeller; do; 16 1/2
Pitch of the crew propeller (uniform); do; 30
Projected length of the screw on line of its axis; do; 3
Blades of the screw; number; 2
Friction of the pitch used; ; 0.2
Helicoidal area of the screw blades; square feet; 1/4 [?]
Weight of the screw; pounds; 6 [P. 44] " (Source: United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. "Report of the Commissioner for 1883." Washington, 1885.)

"In 1881 we purchased two Herreshoff steam cutters [#94p Launch for U.S.S. Albatross and #95p Gig for U.S.S. Albatross] for the Fish Commission Steamer Albatross, which vessel was then being built under my superintendence. The original form of Herreshoff boiler was used in these cutters. The feed pumps were worked from the cross-heads, and there was no other means of feeding the boilers. There were small fresh-water tanks in these boats for supplying the leaks. Clean distilled water was used in the boilers, and the feed pumps and tanks were cleaned at every opportunity. The grate bars were replaced once in every eighteen months; new casings and smoke pipes were necessary at the end of two years; the only parts of the original boilers left at the end of two years, were the coils, separators and a few fittings. Twice a year I had the boats landed, took out both engines and boilers, replacing every defective part of the boilers, and re-bushing the engine journals and re-lining the engines at these times. The boilers (the coils) by this kind of attention lasted six years.
The boats did a great deal of running, and generally well up to full power. We sometimes carried them at the davits for forty-eight hours at a time with the fires banked. As soon as fires were hauled the coils were swept and the ash-pit and furnace closed and smoke pipe covered, to keep out moisture. The commanding officer of the Albatross, as well as the Commissioner of Fisheries, never once restricted me in any repairs or changes I desired to make in these boats, which enabled me to keep them in good condition. My experience has, therefore, been confined to the original and not the 'improved' Herreshoff boiler.
The one great difficulty I have found with this type of boiler is to find or to train men to run it. As all others are 'water-level' boilers, and as the height of water is the thing most carefully watched, it naturally makes a man nervous to confront so radical a change. This original Herreshoff boiler contains the greatest strength for a given weight of metal. It has a positive circulation; there are no pockets to deflect the water; it takes its one unalterable course from its receiving point to the separator. It contains a relatively large furnace, that the rate of combustion per square foot of grate may be diminished, with a given total combustion.
The steam, I believe, is mostly formed in the separator, where the pressure is somewhat diminished; and if this be true, the coils are run pretty full of water, the weight of which in this type of boiler is nearly as much as in other tubulous boilers." (Source: Baird, George W. Passed Assistant Engineer, U. S. Navy. [Comment.] Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers. August, 1890, p. 392-393.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Casting sketch notebook (original copy) [Titled Nathl G. Herreshoffp, Bristol R.I.; 1882, mostly signed by N.G.H.; material and item orders relating to steamers #81p, #82p, #83p, #88p, #89p, #90p, #91p, #92p, #95p, #98p, stock for new boat shop]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Notebook. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.120-10. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Casting Record Books Sketch and Order Book 1882 NGH. 1882.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #95p [Gig for U.S.S. Albatross] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Gig for Albatross (HMCo-made index card)
• Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.

"Steam launch for the 234ft LOA U.S. Fish Commission steamer U.S.S. Albatross." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 3, 2009.)

"The propeller shaft of this launch was fitted with a universal joint allowing the propeller to be pulled up into a recess in the keel for beaching." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 8, 2018.)

"Displacement (40.86 cu ft [= 2615 lbs]) from United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. 'Report of the Commissioner for 1883.' Washington, 1885." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 30, 2014.)

"Estimated weights. Boiler 450lbs. Engine 176lbs. Piping 100lbs. Hull 974lbs. Total 1700lbs. ... Weight all on board but coal and water 2330lbs." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Note on plan HH.5.00164 (003-021) Construction Plan for Launch for U.S. Fish Commission, 1882-09-07.)

Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.